WES BRYAN ON RANDY WOOD'S RANWOOD RECORDS

 

From a recent e-Bay auction, featuring "To Be Alone" and "One Summer Night."

SEARCH FOR BLOG POSTS ABOUT RANDY WOOD and RANWOOD RECORDS in HOLLYWOOD using the Search Feature embedded in the side bar of this blog.

Now in 1957 Randy Wood sold ownership of the label to Paramount Pictures but he was the President for the company for another ten years. He left to co-founded the Ranwood Records Label with Lawrence Welk.

BILLBOARD MAGAZINE - WES BRYAN - DECEMBER 9, 1957

GOOGLE BOOKS WES BRYAN - BILLBOARD MAGAZINE PROMO PHOTO AND RECORD DISTRIBUTOR INFO  showing Wes Bryan and Joe Valino...

Goes right to the UNITED ARTISTS PROMO of HOLLYWOOD'S LATEST DISCOVERY!

THE HOLLYWOOD BUG CONTINUES TO BITE ME : FROM OUR ARCHIVES POST (150)

(150) THE HOLLYWOOD BUG CONTINUES TO BITE ME

In New York acting was respected as a dramatic art and the stage was the place to be.

I studied at Actors Studio in New York with Lee Strasberg, who is now legendary.

The Studio System of Hollywood put actors on contract. The amount of money to be made was quite limited in those years compared to what successful actors demand and get today - very limited.

Even when an actor made millions for the studios on a picture, or a top agent like Henry Wilson was going to negotiate for you, the actors take was limited. Of course some stars managed to get their contracts rewritten for more money. Wealth for many didn't come outright from pay or overnight but from investing what they earned in real estate - land especially - in Southern California, which had experienced a first surge of the building boom after World War II.

So you had to love acting and love it enough to do it knowing you might never make a lot of money. You had to appreciate the many perks that came with being a famous actor, including meeting people and making connections that could do you some good, but you had to earn it all the time. You had to do things their way.

Just as James Dean had moved to Hollywood and making films, many of my peers, including of course Bobby Darin, looked forward to a movie acting career. It was one thing to make grueling promotional tours around the country, one radio or television station after another, and another to be known almost instantly around the whole country because you were seen in the movies. So long as the move from stage to screen included musicals, it made sense to the viewing public that an actor would launch into song.

(479) JAMES DEAN THE ICONIC ACTOR and WHAT THAT HAS TO DO WITH ME and MY DAD

People say to me, especially when they see this blog, Wes, you met so many interesting people!

I have.

I've also lived my life as a private citizen and private person for many years since those days when I was part of a scene in New York, on the road, or in Los Angeles.

Today I'm a retired senior citizen, and so many of my friends and associates, one's I've written about, have passed.

You know, I did meet and have friendships with many people who became famous - more famous than me - Elvis Presley being the most famous of them all, but it's funny because the person I wanted to meet and never could, besides Marilyn Monroe, was James Dean.

My dad was initially not for my having a career in entertainment.

Dad was teaching me the home building and remodeling trade and we were in Akron, Ohio working when my picture hit the Akron Beacon Journal Roto Magazine cover, and it was a photographer on staff there who saw the resemblance and did that cover.

I always credited him with "discovering" me but I also had to my credit Jimmy Bowen, who was in Akron and liked a demo I did in a kitchen, and a local DJ who played my demo, too.

Soon Hollywood was sending telegrams and calling me as was New York - United Artists.

I went visiting my dad, and remember being in a movie theatre in the South with him where we'd gone to watch a James Dean movie together. Dad got the full picture of whose shoes I was supposed to fill then, especially because early on I was "discovered" and promoted to be "The Next James Dean," after the real James Dean's death, on September 30, 1955.

Since beginning this blog, we've focused on music, because there was a fork in the road for me early in life, and that was acting or music and I took music,  but  this month we're taking a detour to focus a bit on Jimmy.

NEIL YOUNG ON WALLICHS MUSIC AND THE WHISKY A GO GO

Pages 147-148 From Neil's recent memoir, also quoted earlier in this blog:

... "Let me describe WALLICHS for you: They sold all kinds of music there - 45s, LPs, sheet music, books about music - and in a little shop upstairs guitars and other instruments were displayed.  There were also listening booths where you could hear singles on headphones and see if you wanted to buy them.  I spend a lot of time there.  Of course, the place was crawling with flower children and beautiful hippie girls.

Anyway, like I said, upstairs at Wallichs there was a guitar department.  Martins, Gibson's all manner of electric and very nice old acoustic guitars were there.  This was around the time the Springfield (Buffalo Springfield- his band before CSNY) was happening; we were playing at the Whisky a Go Go, about a mile down Sunset toward Beverly Hills.  Stills (Stephen) and I went to Wallich's a lot and tried out Martins together . Stephen was fast becoming an excellent player and had surpassed me in his knowledge of voicings, and he was always playing rhythms naturally that blew my mind."

(423) BEACH BOYS : PROMOTIONAL FOR GIRLS ON THE BEACH SHOWS OFF THE COMPETITION BETWEEN THE BEACH BOYS AND THE BEATLES

The competition between the Beatles, who lead the way of the British Invasion of America, and our home grown Beach Boys was a theme of the summer '65 movie "The Girls On the Beach," as this promo proves. ( Christine : Hey, are those girl guitarists? Who has more fans? Which Beatle or Beach Boy was on the poster on your bedroom wall ?) This might have been the height of the song writing competition between Brian Wilson and the Paul McCartney - John Lennon team.

You can link to the Beach Boys on our sidebar where we just listed their site as it is today, which features their band as it is and a new CD. On this post we're linking to the IMBd movie database about the film so you can learn more! The actress Ahna Capri, who we blogged about in the past, appeared in this film. Use the search feature of this Google Blogger to locate that post and read a little Wes Bryan history.

(422) JERRY COLE ON CAPITOL : SURF GUITARIST : STUDIO GENIUS

This Youtuber did a fine job of writing about Jerry if you go right to his link on that site. He was a great studio musician and had become known for surf music but in his case he got to be the vocalist for a couple songs.

"Come Over to My Place" was a Shindig TV show theme song. Capitol was the hot record label in Los Angeles summer of '65. Jerry became a life long friend of mine.

Linking to Jerry Cole on Rockabilly Hall of Fame!

Use the Search feature of this blog to locate other Jerry Cole posts, including the Interview with Wes Bryan.

OLD GOLDEN HOLLYWOOD

Probably the 1930's. A bit before my time in Hollywood, which began in the late 1950's when the Capitol Records building towered over the record business. Looks like Vine Street to me.

Used under terms and conditions with thanks from Dover Publishing

CAPITOL RECORDS and THE PLAZA HOTEL

From Our Archives

Capitol Records and the Knickerbocker Hotel in Hollywood circa 1960, credited to photographer Roy Hankey, through Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection Database. We've been looking through free image collections for a good photo of the Capitol building which looked a bit like a stack of records.

Besides Capitol records, we also see the Plaza Hotel- where I had tea with actress and James Dean's great friend Christine White, the Huntington-Hartford, and the Broadway Department store.

UPDATE July 2011. We're linking to a Hollywood/ Capitol Records Memory Site by Nori Muster. This site includes "The Capitol Tower Turned fifty in 2006. Read correspondence, remembrance, and images from the grand opening, including the 1956 press release, information sheet, tour guide script, and Tower booklet." and more!

HELLO TO MY FRIEND ACTOR LANCE LEGAULT!

LANCE LEGAULT is an old friend of mine and Elvis'... He figures in a lot of the fun we all had together at Elvis'. He was in four Elvis films: Roustabout, Viva Las Vegas, Kissin Cousins and Girls Girls Girls, in the early 1960's and as you'll see he made his name in acting... He's been in the movies continually and is still acting!


We're linking to the IMDB Database about Lance!

(336) PLACES TO GO THINGS TO DO : HOLLYWOOD: CIROS RESTAURANT

One of the places that I went to with my music friends in the early 1960's was Ciro's, a Hollywood restaurant with quite a history. It opened in the 1940's and was an immediate success, on the map with some of the biggest stars who used it as the background to their lives. You could feel that in the air even then that the times were a changin'... The Byrds were playing there.

By the time I moved to Los Angeles the place had been converted into a rock and roll club. I have memories of Johnny Rivers and me meeting up over there - and bringing our dates with us.

We're linking to the SERVING HISTORY site so you can read a bit about Ciro's ...

CHRISTINE WHITE HELLO HELLO HELLO!

I've been thinking of my life long friend who I met before my NEXT JAMES DEAN days, Christine White, an accomplished actress who dated James Dean, and who we've blogged about before. In one of the great synchronicities of my life, a year before I ever imagined I would be discovered in Akron (That picture of me on the banner is my ROTO cover circa 1957), or have a career in the music business, I met Christine on a short vacation trip - my first - to Hollywood.


Today, I want to say a special hello to Christine, who is one of my angels on earth in my life! (And you'll be hearing more about her in the future as my early 1960's Hollywood days continue!)

50th ANNIVERSARY of the HOLLYWOOD WALK OF FAME

was celebrated yesterday... We're linking to the official site so you can find out what stars will be receiving stars soon!

ELVIS PRESLEY and ANN-MARGRET THAT'S WHAT YOU GET FOR LOVING ME

This YouTube presented put together a collage of good photos of Elvis and Ann. Some on set and in acting roles, others not.

One of the things that strikes me as I see these videos is the pictures of Ann on her motorcycle. Elvis loved that Ann rode - because he did too. He loved to go off alone on the road and leave the Entourage behind. When Ann and Elvis were dating, they went off on their bikes together.

ELVIS PRESLEY and ANN-MARGRET : THE LADY LOVES ME from VIVA LAS VEGAS

ELVIS PRESLEY and ANN-MARGRET: They were making the film about this time of year in 1963. (The film was released in 1964.)

"Viva Las Vegas" remains one of my favorite films of all time.

And Ann-Margret remains one of my favorite ladies of all time too, and a great lady she is.

HAL WALLIS ON ELVIS PRESLEY

"A Presley picture is the only sure thing in Hollywood." - Hal Wallis (Producer)

SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE MARCH 2010 HOLLYWOOD'S HISTORICAL BUILDINGS

Link now to this a Smithsonian.com article with a lot of pictures. It brings up a lot of memories for me. The Pantages theatre, The Cinerama Dome, the Egyptian theatre, The El Capitan, the Max Factor make up factory, and most of all the Capitol Records building, which we all thought looked like a big stack of records.

In the early 1960's you could still see stars shopping, dining out, and driving their own cars around Hollywood. It was a wonderful time to be part of things.

(281) BOBBY DARIN HELL FOR HEROS

While my generation had Korea and the United States was in Vietnam, fascination for World War II pictures continued. My friend from New York, Bobby Darin, had moved to Hollywood to pursue his own acting career. I would go to movie sets and pitch songs I wrote or my coworkers at American Music wrote to pitch them to stars like Bobby.

LINK TO BOBBY DARIN'S OFFICIAL SITE HERE !

In 1962 Bobby also made a television appearance on the Judy Garland show.

(240) LIFE IN HOLLYWOOD RECORDING STUDIOS

In 1962 I was living in Hollywood, not far from all the famous haunts. My brother was living with me. But as I maybe mentioned before, an exodus of New Yorkers came out to Los Angeles, including Johnny Rivers, who stayed with us for a time. Ersel Hickey was the one who had too much New York in him to come out this way.

Hollywood was laid back, easy going compared to New York. The people in the business were generous with their time and referrals. I tried to be the same way.

Working for American Music, I ran into another New Yorker I knew from the east, music producer Phil Spector. He would use the big studio - A, where he perfected his "Wall of Sound" at Goldstar, while I used the small studio - B, there. Dave Gold and Stan Ross owned Goldstar and it was one of the best.

Use the search feature of this blog to read about Phil Spector and our blog called GOLDSTAR - THE LUCKY STUDIO!

BUDDY KNOX AT THE DERBY in HOLLYWOOD 1996

This YouTube video just showed up on the site recently. It's Buddy Knox, the man I toured with for a couple years in the late 1950's - early 1960's performing in 1996 in Hollywood!